All episodes of The Fall of the House of Usher are streaming on Netflix, and just in case the title didn't give it away, Mike Flanagan's Edgar Allan Poe-based series deals with the decline of the Usher family.
Spoilers follow.
Though this probably shouldn't be considered much of a spoiler since it's confirmed in the opening few minutes of the show, said family members don't just lose their power and social standing, but their lives - in various creative, gruesome, and (mostly) well-deserved ways.
The facilitator of the Ushers' grim demises is the mysterious Verna (Carla Gugino), who is ultimately revealed to be a manifestation of The Raven from Poe's most famous poem. She is present for, and in some cases orchestrates, the deaths of Madeline and Roderick Usher, his children, and beloved granddaughter, and some of the kills are downright brutal.
Though the Ushers' fates appeared to be sealed as soon as Roderick and Madeline made their bargain with Verna, she does seem to offer certain characters a way out if they make a different decision - although this may have been just to spare them a more painful end, since The Raven doesn't seem to have much choice in the matter (she clearly doesn't want to kill Lenore).
In a new promo video, the cast of TFOTHOU talk about their respective characters' death scenes, and whether they feel they deserved their fates.
"Ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher have built Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege and power. But past secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth," reads the official synopsis.
Flanagan has assembled a typically stacked cast, including Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Carl Lumbly, Mark Hamill, Michael Trucco, T’Nia Miller, Paola Nuñez, Henry Thomas, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel, Sauriyan Sapkota, Zach Gilford, Willa Fitzgerald, Katie Parker, Malcolm Goodwin, Crystal Balint, Aya Furukawa, Daniel Jun, Matt Biedel, Ruth Codd and Annabeth Gish.
Kyleigh Curran, Igby Rigney and Robert Longstreet also star.
The Fall of the House of Usher marks the fifth Netflix series for Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy under their Intrepid Pictures overall deal, after The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and recent Christopher Pike adaptation The Midnight Club.
Mike Flanagan and Michael Fimognari each directed four episodes.